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A predominantly Catholic country is suffering from a shortage of food and medicine, and when the people take to the streets to protest against the government's mismanagement, corruption and abuse of power, they are increasingly met with bullets.

Yet the leader of the Catholic Church, who has called world hunger a scandal and decried the cancer of corruption in Latin America, has failed to speak up against Venezuela's humanitarian crisis and its main culprit, President Nicolás Maduro.

Support for Maduro and Chavismo in general dwindles each day in this nation of 30mn people, 73% of whom are Catholic. Posters of the late former president Hugo Chávez are being torn down, as people who once praised his so-called Bolivarian revolution are waking up to the harsh reality under his handpicked successor.

Armando Cañizales, a 17-year-old violinist, was recently killed by a gunshot to the head while throwing rocks at the national guard in a Caracas protest. Cañizales was part of El Sistema, Venezuela's state-funded music education and youth orchestra system. The killing prompted Gustavo Dudamel, Venezuela's world-renowned orchestra conductor and leading symbol of El Sistema, to finally speak out, after years of calling for dialogue between the government and the opposition. "Enough is enough," he said in an open letter, in which he calls on Maduro to listen to the Venezuelan people.

The body of a young man killed in an anti-government protest is brought to a Caracas hospital on Wednesday (CREDIT: AFP).

For Venezuela's church officials, the final straw came after Maduro announced a constituent assembly that would bypass the popular vote in reforming the constitution.

The episcopal conference grouping of local bishops called on Venezuelans to raise their voice in protest, and accused the government of seeking to impose "a violent and repressive totalitarian, militaristic, police system." As retribution for siding with the people, Maduro unleashed government goons that entered churches to disrupt mass.

Meanwhile, Pope Francis – the voice that could perhaps put the most pressure on the government, the one Maduro cannot possibly silence with threats of retribution or violence – remains non-committal about coming down on the side of democracy.

During the short-lived, Vatican-led talks between the government and the opposition, the pope had to stay neutral in the hopes of brokering a deal between both sides. The talks quickly broke down last year after Maduro failed to release political prisoners and respect basic democratic norms that were part of the negotiations' conditions.

Since then, Pope Francis has not taken a stance on the grave situation in the country, where nearly three-quarters of Venezuelans have lost an average of 8.7kg over the past year in what has been called the 'Maduro diet', amid the shortage of food and other basic goods.

(A recent Associated Press investigation discovered that shipments of food awaiting entry into Venezuela were going bad as the armed forces demanded bribes. Maduro has delegated control of several economic sectors to the military in order to stay on the good side of the generals who could kick him out at any moment.)

Instead, the pontiff has called on Venezuelan bishops to once again build bridges between Maduro and the opposition in order to stop the violence that has claimed about 40 lives in over a month.

Protesters carry a man during Wednesday's demonstration (AFP).

Let's be clear: there can be no bridge building with a government that wanted the supreme court to assume the legislative powers of the opposition-controlled national assembly; that is trying to ban three opposition governors from holding office by accusing them of administrative irregularities; that has kept main opposition leader Leopoldo López in prison since 2014 under charges of rebellion; that called off last year's regional elections; that is using military courts to process civilian protesters; and that prevented three lawmakers from taking office after the opposition's resounding victory in the 2015 legislative elections to prevent a supermajority in congress that could have called for Maduro's removal.

There is no possible negotiation with an administration that flouts democracy. In this scenario, the opposition is like the 17-year-old violinist that can only wield rocks against the heavily armed national guard and the so-called Colectivos, community organizations created by Chávez that act as paramilitary groups, using violence to intimidate protesters, voters and the media.

In this scenario, everybody needs to take a stand. OAS secretary general Luis Almagro, who as Uruguay's foreign minister once praised Chávez, has called on Maduro to respect the voice of the people and to settle differences through elections. Argentina's President Mauricio Macri said "Venezuela is not a democracy." Maduro has accused both of being tools of US imperialism, the rote response to criticism.

But Venezuela's president would not have such an easy time dismissing criticism from Pope Francis, who has earned the respect of international leaders of all political stripes, including Cuba's Raúl Castro and Bolivia's Evo Morales.

The pope should not provide Maduro with the time and legitimacy afforded by further negotiations that will not prosper as long as he's in power. He should demand that Maduro listen to his people and call for elections immediately.

My notes

BNamericas delivers on-the-ground insight and trusted business intelligence to companies and investors active in and entering Latin America. Identifying opportunities early on and connecting clients with decision-makers across 12 industries, BNamericas is the edge your company needs in Latin America.

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Methodology & Procedures

Definitions

Projects covered include state-owned and private projects in the Infrastructure, Electric Power, Oil & Gas (excluding upstream), Water and Waste, and Mining sectors.

Where applicable, a project is considered as such until the end of construction and ramp-up to full capacity (with the exception of mining projects, where the date of commissioning signifies the end of the project). Projects must have a:

Data

For state-owned projects, initial information about the start date and estimates for completion and investment are taken from original signed contracts, along with addendums and annexes.

If original contracts cannot be obtained, information is taken from public documents, presentations, news articles from BNamericas archives, and external sources.

In cases where contracts are subject to approval by legislators, the start date is the date of the law or legislative approval.

In the case of private projects, information is taken from public sources, such as stock exchange filings, annual reports, company presentations, third party research and press releases.

In judging the timing of investment decisions for private projects, great care was taken to differentiate between large projects receiving environmental approval and proceeding directly to construction, and smaller projects where the investment decision hinges on securing financing.

Best care is taken to ensure that recorded data is correct at the time of entry and that each entry is backed with a relevant source.

The greatest care possible was taken to ensure consistency of information in order make a like-for-like comparison in project costs. Insofar as the figures rely on disclosure by the organization or company responsible, the figures can be considered to be conservative in nature.

No attempt was made to adjust figures for inflation during the course of research or for consideration of the time value of money.

Validation

In the case of state-owned projects, validation is carried out where possible with either a member of the consortium, EPC contractor, a relevant state agency or advisors to either party.

Currency

Projects costs are measured in US dollars. Where project costs are measured in a local currency, amounts are converted to US dollars at the date of the relevant announcement, signature or report.

Severity of deviation from original estimates

The severity of deviation from original estimates is defined according to set criteria.

Timing

Status

Condition

Ahead of time

95% of original estimate or below (measured in months)

On time

95% to 105% of original estimate

Minor changes

105% to 120% of original estimate

Medium changes

120% to 160% of original estimate

Major changes

Over 160% of original estimate

Budget

Status

Condition

Ahead of budget

95% of original budget estimate or below

To budget

95% to 105% of original budget estimate

Minor changes

105% to 120% of original budget estimate

Medium changes

120% to 140% of original budget estimate

Major changes

Over 140% of original budget estimate

Changes in Scope

Changes in scope beyond the start date are not accounted for.

Language definitions

Where guidance is non-specific as to dates for completion, the following is used. Project to be completed by 2018 = December 31, 2017 Project to be completed in 2018 = December 31, 2018